Ifamatters

Hello world!

Welcome to Ifa Matters.  If a newcomer to the Ifa tradition is considered a baby, then I am not a baby…I am an embryo.  I am still in the very early stages of my development – I have not yet emerged into the fully-formed spiritual baby that I trust I will one day become.  An as an embryo, I am still dependent on the one carrying me to provide the nourishment I need to grow.  But I will grow, in darkness, surrounded and cushioned by water, fragile yet more resilient than many realize.

For now the computer is my umbilical cord and the Internet is the placenta from which I draw the information needed to grow. Physical distance separates me from my teachers, so for most of the time my learning must take place online.

My spiritual father once told me that the birth of a baby is heralded with joy.  However, the placenta, once the embryo’s sole source of nourishment, is disposed of speedily.  The placenta, he explained, is a symbol of the misfortune that trails the newborn entering this world.  One hidden lesson I have taken from this allegory is that for further development to take place, it is sometimes necessary  to disconnect from the very thing that is the means of sustenance.  But never prematurely… to disconnect too soon means death.  Maybe one day I will no longer need online lessons, but for now they are vital for my spiritual growth.

This blog is my way of sharing what I learn with others who may also be at the start of their spiritual development.  Most of the information will be in the form of question and answer discussions with the babalawo I call Oluwo and the Iyanifa I call IyaKemi.  They are actual transcripts of our online sessions.